Where do deer go when they die?

We have lots of deer out here at the Ranchland. There's a pond out back and they like to travel across our place and down the hill to hang out and drink. Sometimes they aren't paying close attention when they recross the road going back to their forest home. Sometimes they get smacked by rapid running automobiles.

One morning while driving out to work I noticed a freshly smacked deer lying in the front yard. He was clearly a goner and I didn't have time to try to do something with him so I just went on into town wondering what the heck I was going to do with him after work.

Sometimes, if they find them fresh enough, some people will load them up and make venison witht them. I got home to find that that wasn't done.

Black Dog is our greyhound/lab and he's an airdog. No fence in my financial existence can keep Black Dog inside. Good thing he's a friendly and laid-back guy. He jumps the fence and wanders the neighborhood visiting neighbors all the day long. So it wasn't surprising to find that he had been snacking on the deer's dead parts all afternoon. Now it was time to get something done about this danged deer before I start finding dead deer parts spread all around the yard.

I called the cops in town. They weren't helpful.
I called the game warden. He's out of town for a couple of weeks. Leave a message and maybe he'll call.
There's no such thing as dead animal pickup in this area.
I couldn't figure out what to do.

Ms Donna was at a store and mentioned that we had this dead deer in the yard. A guy who worked at the store, noticing where we live, said "Well hell, little lady. Just drag 'im up the road to that open range and leave him there. If you don't do that then the coyotes will come to your house soon".

I don't really need coyote visitors so I got out the rope.
Tied the deer up to the back of the truck and dragged him across the yard to get him out to open range. Well he came off. I retied. I tied it good this time. Now it was dark.
I took off dragging the poor dead forest creature down the crappy road being totally disrespectful to this poor and beautiful work of nature.
I drove.
And drove.
Down the road past the fork and water tower. Past the 2 cattle pastures. Over the cattle guards that mark the beginning of open range country. And then I pulled off the road pretty well so that I could release the poor deer far away from where it might bother anyone.

Got out of the truck.
No deer.
Crap.
I must've lost him.
I was miles away from home.
So I started driving back home looking very closely in the dark and trying to locate the wayward carcass. I drove slowly. I peered closely. Never saw the danged thing.
Somehow the deer had escaped from my knotiness and lost itself in the wild.

Next morning I drove down there in the daylight and still didn't see the deer. Then, while on the way back, I saw some dogs. Sure enough they were hanging around with the deer. I hooked it up again while the dogs were eyeballing me and I dragged it back a few more miles out the range and released it.

The coyotes were pretty happy with me that night.